Tom Norton

For that safari-themed home theater come these tasteful acoustic panels from Auralex. Available in a wide variety of other floura and fauna prints.

Integra has upgraded its DTC-9.8 pre-pro to the DHC-9.9 ($2000). The latter now includes Imaging Science Foundation's Certified Calibration Controls (ISFccc), which here provide separate high and low adjustments for red, green, and blue--for each input. The DHC-9.9 also adds THX Loudness Plus, Audyssey Dynamic Eq, and Audyssey Dynamic Volume. In case you were wondering, however, the DTC-9.8 cannot be upgraded to DHC-9.9 specs. All of these features will also be included in Integra's top two receivers, the DTR-8.9 and the DTR-9.9.

Here's the new B&W CM series center channel, the CMC-2. The big change here is the use of a vertically positioned midrange and tweeter, which is nearly always the best way to configure a center speaker, if you must use a horizontal design--and most of us do. The midrange here is also a new and exciting design; it's a smaller version of the surround-free (FST) midrange driver that's featured in many B&W models, including the new CM9 (above).

Classe is bringing out a whole line of electronics designed specifically for custom installation in a rack. Though the cosmetics are different from their standard lineup, the performance and prices) are not. Shown here is their 600W (into 8 ohms) monster monoblock.